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Transplant An Overview

© Christine O'Connor

Kidney transplants are the second most common transplants done in the United States. The first most common being eye cornea transplants. Because there is never enough kidney donors, a lot if not most patients awaiting a kidney graft, will need kidney dialysis in the meantime while they are awaiting a transplant. Kidney dialysis is a means to filter the blood of toxins and remove excess fluids that the damaged kidneys can no longer do for themselves.

A kidney transplant is the easiest to do among all other major organ transplants, but of course carries a risk associated with all major surgeries. The surgery itself lasts about 3 hours but will vary with each patient.

Kidney donations can come from three sources.

The first source and most beneficial to the recipient is a living related donor, such as a sibling, parent, or perhaps even an uncle or aunt.

The second most beneficial is the living unrelated donor such as your spouse, friend, neighbor.

The third donor possibility is a donor who has recently died, but whose kidney has not suffered damage.

Living related donations have the best chance of matching a patient waiting for a kidney which leads to a little bit better odds in avoiding rejection.

Both living related and living unrelated are better for the recipient if a match is found because the shorter time a donor kidney goes without blood circulating in it, the less damage it receives.

A cadaver donation can last up to 48 hours, the maximum time allowed, where it is kept in a cool saline solution to preserve the kidney, until it arrives at the destination of an awaiting transplant patient. Some damage may be done to the cadaver organ during the time it is in transport to a recipient, while no blood is circulating in the organ. This is still however, the means by which most kidney patients waiting on the list receive a "new" kidney.

Before getting on an organ transplant list a patient has to undergo a work up which includes medical tests as well as interviews with a transplant nurse, transplant surgeon, transplant social worker, among others. These interviews help doctors to determine whether a patient is both physically and emotionally capable of facing life with a transplant.

The medical tests needed can vary but may include:

• Chest x-rays
  
• Blood work to check for HIV , Hepatitis, and other possible indicators of problems. Blood work also lets the doctors know the kidneys' functioning status.
  

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